Professor Lin Chongan: Heavenly Awakening and the Origins of the Buddhist Dharma

(Dharma Light Magazine, Issue 234, 2009)

“Teacher of Celestial Beings and Humans” is one of the Buddha’s primary epithets. Why is he known by this title? The Sūtra of the Complete Dharma Treasury states:

I am not only the teacher of the fourfold assembly of bhikshus, bhikshunis, upasakas, and upasikas. I am also the teacher, foremost teacher, companion guide, exemplar, foremost exemplar, companion exemplar, leader, and pathfinder for all celestial and human beings — including devas, maras, brahmas, śramaṇas, and brahmins. For this reason, the Tathagata is called Teacher of Celestial Beings and Humans.

The Yogācāra Bhūmi Śāstra, Section on the Collection of Diverse Categories records:

This epithet applies because celestial beings and humans have the ability to grasp profound teachings and the capacity to practice the path diligently.

Since beings inhabit all six realms of saṃsāra, why does this title mention only celestial beings and humans? The Mahāprajñāpāramitā Śāstra (Great Wisdom Treatise) explains:

Question: The Buddha can liberate beings born in other realms, such as dragons, ghosts, and spirits — why is he called only the Teacher of Celestial Beings and Humans? Answer: Far fewer beings are liberated in other realms than in the celestial and human realms. This is like a person with light skin and a few dark moles: they are not called a dark-skinned person, because the dark areas are few. What’s more, defilements are sparse in the human realm, so it’s easy to cultivate the mind of renunciation; intellect is keener in the celestial realm. For these reasons, it’s easy to attain the path in these two realms, unlike in others.

This tells us that celestial beings and humans are particularly receptive to the Buddhist teachings. The Buddha taught and liberated countless people over his lifetime; what of his work with celestial beings? In fact, he taught and liberated both celestial beings and humans from the very first time he turned the dharma wheel, as the Samyukta Āgama records:

“…I have set the dharma wheel in motion three times for the Four Noble Truths, teaching their twelvefold meaning, so that the eye of dharma, wisdom, clarity, and awakening have arisen. Among the assemblies of devas, maras, brahmas, śramaṇas, and brahmins, and all humans who have heard the dharma, I have broken free, been liberated, and personally attained and accomplished unexcelled, complete enlightenment.” At that time, when the World-Honored One gave this teaching, Venerable Kaundinya and eighty thousand celestial beings were freed from the dust of defilement and attained the pure dharma eye.

This discourse is the well-known Dharma Wheel Turning Sutta. Notably, only one human — Venerable Kaundinya — attained stream-entry (the first fruit of the path) at this teaching, while eighty thousand celestial beings reached the same attainment. The Buddha then went on to teach and liberate four more bhikshus, followed by Yasa and the three Kasyapas, together with a thousand bhikshus. He then traveled to teach and liberate King Bimbisāra and his large retinue, as recorded in the Madhyama Āgama:

“…Great King! If a learned noble disciple contemplates in this way, they will grow disenchanted with form, disenchanted with feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness. When disenchantment arises, craving ceases; when craving ceases, they attain liberation; when liberated, they know liberation: birth is ended, the holy life is fulfilled, the task is done, there is no further existence in saṃsāra — this is the truth.” When the Buddha gave this teaching, King Bimbisāra of Magadha, along with eighty thousand celestial beings and twelve thousand people of Magadha, were freed from the dust of defilement, and the dharma eye of all phenomena arose within them.

This discourse is known as the Sūtra of King Bimbisāra Welcoming the Buddha. Through the Buddha’s teaching, twelve thousand humans attained stream-entry (the first fruit of the path) at this gathering, along with eighty thousand celestial beings.

Many stream-entrants (those who attained the first fruit of the path) in the human realm are reborn in celestial realms after passing away. For example, when the Buddha was residing in the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven for the rains retreat to teach the dharma to his mother, the lay assembly requested Venerable Maudgalyāyana to travel to the heavens and invite the Buddha back to the human world. The Vinaya Miscellaneous Matters records:

…The Venerable saw that the assembly had left, so he entered a deep samadhi. In the time it takes a strong person to stretch or bend an arm, he vanished from that spot and appeared in the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven. There he saw the World-Honored One on a jeweled palace, teaching an immeasurable, infinite assembly of celestial beings subtle, profound dharma. …Other celestial beings spoke thus: “In my previous life, I had deep, pure faith in the dharma, the sangha, and the pure precepts, and I fully received and practiced them. When that life ended, I was reborn here.” At that moment, countless hundreds of thousands of celestial beings personally attained stream-entry in the Buddha’s presence, and each bowed at the Buddha’s feet…

From the perspective of the Buddhist teachings, the number of celestial beings who have heard the dharma is vast, as is the number of awakened beings among them who have attained fruition. This is also evident in the modern Thai text The Biography of Venerable Ajahn Mun, which describes how deeply celestial beings enjoy listening to the dharma. Though celestial beings cannot be seen with the naked eye, their existence is hard to dismiss.

Finally, let us reflect on the origins of the Buddhist dharma: While the Buddha was alive, celestial beings heard his teachings and attained realization. After the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa, can awakened beings among celestial beings pass the dharma down to the human world? Are there many bodhisattva-disposition beings among celestial beings, alongside the numerous shravaka-disposition beings? And do bodhisattva-disposition celestial beings transmit only shravaka teachings? In sum, the Buddha is the teacher of both humans and celestial beings. If we can set aside a human-centric viewpoint and consider the origins of the Buddhist dharma from the perspective of celestial beings, we may arrive at a fuller understanding.